14 Courses at Roganic, Marylebone
14 Courses at Roganic, Marylebone
Roganic, Marylebone – restaurant review
Roganic, sister restaurant to the 2 Michelin star L’enclume in Cumbria, started life as a pop up restaurant. The pop-up was headed by chef-patron Simon Rogan, who then went on to run Fera at Claridge’s.
Earlier this year he re-opened Roganic, with the now permanent site located just a few streets down from the original pop up in Marylebone. And – I have a little confession to make. I went to Roganic and ate their 14-course menu months ago and have just gotten round to writing up the experience… like I said, naughty.
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What with planning my wedding and juggling a downturn in the industry I work in (and the possibility of being made redundant), I just never got round to writing about Roganic. With the wedding done and the industry (and therefore my job) somewhat stabilized however, I have some time now to put my thoughts on paper.
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The only thing is that, at an uber high-end restaurant like Roganic that uses only in-season ingredients, the menu tends to change. Often. The menu is therefore completely different now to what it was when I went. So – think of this as more of an abstract look at the restaurant ;)
Now, I won’t write about every single thing, because having to think of 14 different ways to describe how delicious something is fills me with dread. But I will tell you about the bits I like most.
Notes from our 14 Course lunch at Roganic
Raspberry Tart
Seaweed custard with caviar
Eel and hay cream ball
Raw mackerel
Scallop, gooseberry, apple
Artichoke broth, egg yolk
Salt-baked celeriac
Butter-poached halibut
Duck from Terras Farm
Yellow beetroot sorbet
Burnt milk with blackcurrant and yogurt
Douglas Fir apple tart
Smoked juniper fudge
Yorkshire rhubarb
Our meal at Roganic starts with a creamy buttermilk and beetroot tart, dusted with raspberry powder and just about held together with a gossamer pastry crisp. It’s very delicate.
From the cacophony of dishes that follow, we also love the seaweed custard with caviar. Of course it’s more of a savoury cream than a traditional vanilla custard, and when you think of it like that it sounds fine. They probably just use the word ‘custard’ to get a reaction. I ain’t phased.
My favourite bit about this dish isn’t the smooth, silken custard, rich with umami however; instead it’s the little caviar balls on top, that pop just so and really marry everything together.
Then of course there is the eel and hay cream ball – a lovely and light mouthful, whose airiness benefits from the strength of the little dot of eel. The usual version contains pork, which they kindly remove for me.
Another highlight is the scallop, served in the original shells. I especially like their version with gooseberry, apple and oyster. Scallops and apple go together just fine, and this makes for a nice riff on a classic.
Following what could be called a succession of (very) fancy canapes, we move on to more solid and substantial offerings. From these, our favourites include the artichoke broth, the colour of tar and just as strong on flavour. I’m in love with the intensity of the broth, which is poured on to smoked yolk and served with some good, crusty bread. Yum.
The butter-poached halibut is something that is always going to be delicious so – well done team.
Dessert and petit fours
From the desserts we have few other canape-esque bits and bobs, which are nice but not very memorable to be honest. The standout for us however is the tarte tatin, composed of layers and layers of beautifully caramelized douglas fir apples on a rich, buttery pastry base. Delish.
So there you have it, our 14-course meal at Roganic! It’s been an epic 4-hour long affair, on a weekday lunch, which feel incredibly wrong but oh-so-right.
Would I go back to Roganic?
Would I go back? I’m not entirely sure that such a long time at a table suits me to be honest and, to be fair, a lot of the canape-size courses are not hugely memorable. I think I would probably go back for a quicker and shorter set menu, to get a taste of what I like in a time frame that suits me.
In addition, the menu by now has completely changed – which to be honest I really like. And, having spent some time actually thinking about the food, I’ve realized much more how much of an experience it was. And I’m sort of eager to see what’s on the menu now… So yes, I would go back. At some point ;)
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Is the food at Roganic Halal?
Roganic don’t serve any halal chicken or meat. They have halal fish and vegetarian options if you’d like to visit.
Have you eaten at Roganic? Let us know your thoughts on our Instagram.
The Details
Roganic, Marylebone
Address – 5-7 Blandford St, Marylebone, London W1U 3DB
Website – Roganic
Phone – 020 3370 6260
Nearest Tube – Bond Street
Disclaimer – the halal food status note for Roganic is true at the time of writing. Please phone or email the restaurant before you make a booking to double check the halal food status and anything around cross contamination.
We dined as guests of Roganic
We had a lovely meal here earlier in the year – the duck was a real highlight for us!
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